Here are the 10 most in-demand tech jobs in Hong Kong

Application developers topped the list.

As the manpower industry in Hong Kong continues to be disrupted by the lightning-fast development in information and technology, the need for IT talent has evolved.

According to recruitment and HR firm Randstad, here are the top tech jobs in Hong Kong.

1. Application developers
Randstad said a number of companies in Hong Kong are continuing to build up their internal development capability rather than relying on outsourcing to improve quality.

"Despite the economic downturn, Hong Kong remains an attractive hub for companies that are setting up centres-of-excellence. In particular within Financial Services & Insurance, developers are expected to develop solutions into front office, middle office, and to have knowledge of product control and various risk functions," said Randstad.

2. DevOps
Hong Kong firms are also in need of DevOps with the rise of startup practices entering the commercial space. These professionals are required to help bridge the communication, collaboration, and integration activities between software developers and IT operations.

3. Mobile developers
As mobile usage increases at a significant rate, Randstad said companies are actively seeking mobile developers to keep up with such a demanding and high-adoption market. "Mobile developers are required to aid in digitally transposing the way organisations do business onto our handheld devices, with the objective to increase brand awareness, market share, and profits.”

4. Project management and business analysts
Hong Kong firms are on the lookout for options to become more lean and cost-effective whilst adding more structure and governance to their projects. Randstad stated that there could be an increase in demand for strong Project Management/PMO individuals who are techno-functional and have a track record with delivering technology efficiency and comfortable with stakeholder management.

5. Cloud specialists and engineers
Many companies are now moving into the cloud and IoT, leading to the demand for sufficient infrastructure that is already on or is moving to cloud. With this, engineers who are experienced in migrating to cloud or setting up cloud environments for the various platforms will be highly-sought after.

6. System engineers
This profession will be most likely in-demand in the financial services industry. "The financial services industry has suffered consumer confidence due to recent events such as the iCloud hack on Apple and Playstation hack on their cloud servers. This has led to large information-sensitive corporates to steer away from emerging technologies and use more traditional methods of storing their data," explained Randstad.

7. Data scientists and analysts
More firms are expected to need people who can analyse data for a variety of projects, from sales to product usage and supply chain.

Randstad noted, "We are starting to see a spike in demand for data scientists, data analysts, as well as data engineers writing the tools used by the analysts and scientists to gather and analyse data. They are generally expected to have a strong foundation in computer science and applications, modeling, statistics, analytics, and math."

8. Scrum masters
More than half of technology teams across Hong Kong now adopt Scrum as their agile implementation methodology, and this increases further to 75% if you include hybrid approaches such as those which combine Scrum with another agile approach such as Kanban to create Scrumban.

9. UI/UX designers
These jobs will be available as most firms would be needing someone to ensure that their applications and websites are user-friendly. "Needless to say, any respectable consumer-facing company will always demand experienced designers to innovate and improve, to ensure their business stay relevant and differentiated," said Randstad.

10. Cyber security and technology risk
As firms face increased cyber threats, the spending on IT experts on security will surely be on an uptrend.